Remarketing

Brasher’s Brings Palm OS Technology to Auction

August 19, 2004

Brasher’s Auto Auctions have introduced a new tool to help make finding and keeping track of vehicles easier than ever before. Called Auction e-vita, it is based on Palm OS technology, and allows dealers to search, sort, value, and analyze the vehicles available at the auction on a given day using a hand-held PDA device. With Auction e-vita, auction buyers can quickly identify auction inventory matches, calculate guidebook valuations, and save each vehicle record for later recall. The buyer can even call up a single vehicle instantly by its run number to review information. Auction e-vita provides prospective buyers with important vehicle information and functionality that is not available with typical auction run lists.

Run VIN checks through CARFAX for Palm PDA’s that have wireless capability (Wi-Fi or a Palm Smartphone).

Brasher’s has launched a 90-day free demo of Auction e-vita, for its customers. After a 90-day evaluation, customers will pay a subscription fee to continue using the product. Auction e-vita is available at all Brasher’s auctions and will soon be available at other ServNet auctions. Southern Auto Auction in East Windsor, Connecticut has been using the Auction e-vita application since August of last year as part of its CarLos “To-Go” application.

Remarketing

Vehicles that were taken out of commercial, government, and daily rental fleets and sold at auction in July were worth 8.1% more than they were a year ago and 0.4% more than in June, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Used vehicle sales continued their strong performance in the wholesale market in July, as an "abnormal bounce" that began in June continued to show strength with overall values increasing in July 1.51% from the prior month, according to Manheim.

As an example of this analysis, Black Book data shows that the Toyota FJ Cruiser, whose last model-year was 2014, has actually gone up in value by 25.7% compared to other vehicles that were listed in its segment.

Off-lease fleet vehicles sold in the wholesale market at auction fell 1% in value in June from the prior month but increased 7% from a year ago, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Wholesale vehicle prices for former fleet vehicles at auction increased 0.8% in May from April and have increased 6.8% from a year ago in a "seasonally strong" market, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

The initiative began in 2014, when the company first announced that its $400 million multiple-year project to transform its auction operations. In that time Manheim brought enhancements to both its physical and digital properties.

Wholesale prices for used vehicles up to 8 years old fell 1.7% month-over-month in May, a level that’s typical for this time of year, according to J.D. Power’s June Used Car and Light Truck Guidelines. Auction volume up 12% month-over-month, 2.6% year-over-year.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class topped a list of the most recalled cars in recent model years, while the Hyundai Accent was the least-recalled vehicle during the same period, according to a report on ISeeCars.com.

Used compact vans and several categories of crossovers increased in value in wholesale sales, while luxury vehicles made up seven of the 10 lowest performing categories among 2013-2017 vehicles in May, according to Black Book.